Those of you who know me will know that I have no business talking about fasion, let alone viewing a blog dedicated to the exploration of fasion around the world.  So you can all thank Daryll Lynne for picking up on this literary oddity.

From The Sartorialist, we have this post [oh, come on; no permalinks?] from Monday, July 9th, called "Grapes of Wrath & Sullivan's Travels."  It's a short post, but here's an excerpt:

More than just about overalls ,to me, this look is about how Japan sees our (American) historic costume - i.e. 30's Dust Bowl - in a much more romantic way than we even see ourselves.

You've got to see the pictures to really understand it.  And it seems that this is just one of many current fashion trends in Japan that come out of their fascination with old books, American as well as Italian (The Sartorialist doesn't mention any others in this post).

This makes even less sense to me than fasion usually does.  But hey, who can account for taste?

In honor of the arrival of my 10 lb. September issues of Elle, Vogue, Teen Vogue (what?), and Lucky, I've posted this article from Slate.com about street-fashion blogs.  StilinBerlin is my personal favorite among the various blogs reviewed in the article.  So here's to surviving the dreaded leggings/skinny jeans trend.  I think we're all gonna need a little help.    

I have begun turning to The Sartorialist for inspiration concerning one of my most secret and shameful addictions.  I'm the editor of a "serious" literary-minded journal, I'm a "writer," and I love, love, love fashion.  Not only do I covet unnecessary and soon-to-be-outdated accessories (large belts, anyone?  leggings?) but I watched every single episode of Project Runway with a glee that bordered on mania.  Which is why the blog of "The Sartorialist" is so great.

 "The Sartorialist" is a superhero-esque unnamed good-doer who traipses about NYC with a camera asking the best-dressed men and women who walk past him to pose for photos.  The blog's only been running since September 2005, but, according to a post this afternoon, it has already caught the attention of the British outpost of Esquire.

What makes The Sartorialist so satisfying:  

• Vicarious people-watching
  
• Beautifully posed and shot photos of great outfits
• Occasional - but spot-on - notes from The Sartorialist himself
• Smart comments from readers (as well as some deliciously bitchy ones worthy of even the ladies of Go Fug Yourself)